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We’re on night two of Mumbai—more delicious vadapav, but I've cream for dessert. I am mentally and physically exhausted, but I still have to clean up after dinner.
Satvi offers to help, but of course, I tell her no and take care of everything myself. She’s tired, too, so we call it a night.
Satvi goes to sleep, while I did my work. My phone lights up on the bed beside me. My gaze flickers to it, my brow creasing as I see a new text message and who it’s from. Abhinav Anand, an old friend of mine from school.
Before my entire life tore apart at the seams and it fell on me to single-handedly hold the pieces together, I used to hang out with Abhinav all the time. We were best friends, and I know he was hurt when I had to take a step back, but I could only spread myself so thin before I couldn’t even hold myself together anymore.
Something had to give, and unfortunately, it was Abhinav that needed me the least. I think about him often, especially when I see him at building, but we don’t talk much anymore.
I can’t even remember the last time he sent me a text message. Grabbing the phone, I touch the screen to brighten it so I can read her message without sliding it open.
It’s just one line: What are you doing?
In general, or right this moment? I slide the message open so I can type back. “Work. You?”
“Still?” she texts back.
“God, you must have got a late start.”
“Yeah, I was doing stuff with my bestie, Satvi,” I type back. “Oh, sure. How is she doing?”
“Pretty much the same. Just taking things one day at a time. How have you been?”
“I’m good,” he texts back.
“Really good tonight. I’m actually at this really cool party and I was wondering if you’d want to meet me here. We haven’t hung out in a while, and I’m sure you could use a break for some fun.”
I’m torn. It would be nice to see Abhinav again and hang out like old times, but I’m so tired. Plus, if I go over there I’ll be around other people. That means I have to shower again as soon as I get home, and just thinking about doing all of that when I’m already exhausted… I text back, “I wish I could, but it’s late and I still have a ton of work to do.”
“It is Friday,” he points out. “The work isn’t due until Monday. You can always do it over the weekend.” He knows I like to get my work out of the way on Friday night so I don’t have to think about work again until Monday, but it’s not just that.
Since most of my weekend time is already set aside to work and hang out with Satvi, I also need to get some sleep over the weekend. That’s when I catch up so I can function throughout the week.
I’m always worn down by Friday night. If I go to this party to see her, that means no work gets done tonight. That means I have to do all of it tomorrow, so I’ll have to stay up late again, which means I get zero hours of extra sleep this weekend.
This is why I let the friendship go in the first place. I do not have time for it. But, despite all my good reasons, I feel guilty about telling him no.
Even though I tried explaining to Abhinav that it wasn’t personal, I know he took it that way. Why wouldn’t I hang out with him if I truly wanted to? He doesn’t understand that I’m stretched so thin I feel see-through, and I literally can’t juggle one more ball, no matter how much I might want to. I don’t expect her to understand what life is like for me now, though.
Why would he? He’s never had to shoulder so much responsibility. Grown men have turned away from the weight I have to carry every day.
For a moment, I feel sad for myself, but as soon as I realize what I’m doing, I stop. There is definitely no time for that bullshit. Out of time. That perfectly sums up my entire life right now, actually. I need more time, and there’s no way to get it. It’s a frustrating realization.
I really want to have time for Abhinav, I just… don’t. Right? It feels impossible to add one more ball to the ones I already have in the air, but every bit of this has felt impossible, and here I am, doing it.
So I don’t get enough sleep this weekend—that’s why coffee is a thing. Surely I can rearrange my plate to fit just one more thing. I check the time. It’s a little after 11—way too late to go to a party, but showing up now could work in my favor.
I don’t have to stay as long as if I had gone when the party started, but I’m still putting in an appearance, so at least Abhinav will know I’m making an effort. I’m already dressed in my “vacation clothes,” so I’m pretty much ready.
I grab my purse and smear some lip balm on my lips, then I clear off my bed since I expect to be dead on my feet when I get back home. Am I forgetting anything? Oh, right. Usually, I would tell Satvi I’m leaving.
But then, I shove it down, slide my purse strap on my shoulder, and quietly make my way out of the house.
Moon Resort is something straight off the pages of a glossy magazine. It’s in an elite, hillside neighborhood where a lot of the rich people from my knowing list enjoy.
They have the beach in their backyard, but homes designed with lavish pools and so many expensive playthings, they’re hardly impressed by what nature has to offer.
A wave of foreboding creeps down my spine as I park in one of the empty spots along the long, winding driveway that curves around the house.
The place is already packed full of cars. There must be a ton of people here. I hope I left enough room in case the people in front of me need to leave. Not that I’m likely to stay longer than anybody else. I literally just want to pop in, talk to Abhinav for a bit, and then go home.
I don’t enjoy hanging out with these people, and I feel like I don’t belong here already. I don’t even know where to go. I make my way to the front door, but when I knock, nobody answers.
I can hear music blasting from inside the house, so they probably can’t hear me. There’s more ruckus around back. A girl shrieks, some guys laugh, and I hear a huge splash from the pool.
More music plays in the backyard. I guess since people are obviously back there and no one is coming to the door, I can just walk around back. I feel awkward about it, and the feeling intensifies when I round the corner and find a couple making out with half of their clothes off in a private cabana.
“Whoa,” I murmur, quickly turning my head to look away. I almost apologize, but I don’t think they even noticed me.
Not far from there is another piece of furniture with two guys sprawled on it, one glancing over at the couple in the cabana with a smirk on his face. “Hey, beautiful, where are you going?” asks a guy from the swim team as I walk past him. “Not feeling chatty, huh?”
Ew. There are too many people here. I’m not fond of crowds, and I don’t see Abhinav back here. I’ve never actually been to one, but this isn’t what I expected of a party.
I pass another couple making out by the pool, then move out of the way as I’m nearly splashed by a guy and girl flirting and playing grab-ass in the sloshing water.
“Hey, you made it!” I turn in the direction of the voice and see Romsha coming toward me wearing a smile and a peach-colored bikini, but curiously lacking her entourage again.
She’s approached me alone twice. I offer back a smile. “Yeah, here I am.” “Great.” Her smile widens.
She turns and gestures to a wet bar area. “You can grab a drink over there. We’ve got everything. Here, I’ll take your purse and put it in the coatroom.” My grip on my purse tightens.
“Oh, that’s all right. I’ll keep it on me.” Her eyebrows rise in surprise. “It’ll be kinda hard to swim and keep track of it. Not like any of the poor people are here tonight, but—” She freezes, realizing what she said.
I offer a thin smile. “It’s fine. I’m not going in the pool. I have to keep my phone close in case Satvi needs me, so… thanks, anyway.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
“All right,” Romsha says, walking toward the bar and clearly expecting me to follow. I do because I expect she won’t go away until I satisfy her, and I want to go find Abhinav.
Maybe he’s inside. Romsha lingers until I grab a drink—two, actually. There’s bottled water, which is what I grab, but she insists I have a real drink. She grabs bottles of liquor from behind the bar and makes me something herself.
I thank her and take the red Solo cup, then I make my way inside the house to look for my friend. I find a lot of people inside—including one pair of definitely naked teenagers snuggled up beneath a fur blanket in the downstairs guest bedroom—but I don’t find Abhinav.
I suppose as many people as there are here, we may keep missing each other while we’re circulating. I find a corner off to myself where no one will bump into me, then I shift my drinks so I can reach into my purse and grab my phone.
I text Abhinav to ask where she is, but there’s no immediate response.
“Is that for me?” I turn, startled, as a guy I vaguely recognize but don’t know the name of gets a little too close and takes the drink right out of my hand.
“Um…” He takes a sip, watching me over the rim. “I guess it is now.” He smiles, lowering the cup and moving closer. “I’m Kevin.”
“Hi, Kevin.”
“Aren’t you gonna tell me your name?”
“No.” Inexplicably, he smiles like I’ve just said something sexy.
“Hard to get, huh? I like it.” I couldn’t be more turned off.
“Not playing hard to get. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go look for my friend.” I move around him and start heading back the way I came, but the guy follows me.
“I can be your friend.” He says it like I’ll be enticed.
I roll my eyes, hard. “No thanks.” As aggressively as he began, I think he might keep coming, but fortunately, he seems to get the hint because when I look back, he isn’t there.
At least he took that drink I didn’t want off my hands. What a pal, that Kevin. I check my phone once I get back out near the pool. There’s still nothing from Abhinav.
What the hell?
Someone shouts “hey!” behind me, but it doesn’t occur to me they could possibly be addressing me until someone grabs my shoulder and yanks me around.
I have to look up, my eyes widening as I look into the angry red face of Arpita. I was in a group dinner with her once, and back when I used to sit with people at lunch, we sat at the same table a couple of times, but we don’t really know each other.
She’s definitely looking at me, though. Angrily. Very angrily.
“Um… me?” I question.
Her eyes narrow. “Who else?”
I’m so confused. “I don’t know. Can I help you with something?”
“Yeah.” She shoves me and I fall back a couple of steps—not only because I’m taken completely off-guard, because she’s huge. I’m not. I would never intentionally anger her.
“What the hell was that for?” I ask, not even angry, just confused. She turns her phone around and shows me a picture of me and Kevin talking upstairs. It must have been when he first approached and took my drink.
He’s definitely giving me a sexy look, but my back is turned, so you can’t see that I’m definitely not reciprocating. “You think you can talk to my man? I will break you in half,” she says, giving me a once-over that lets me know she is not impressed with my scrawny ass.
“You have the wrong idea. I was not flirting with your boyfriend. At all.” She points to the phone.
“I have proof, bitch.”
“No. You can’t see my expression from this angle. If you could, you’d see it looks like when you take a big whiff of soured milk. No offense. I’m sure he has his charms, but I don’t see them. I’m guessing a well-meaning friend of yours snapped that and not you because trust me, if you’d have been there yourself, you would not think I was flirting with him. If anything, he was—” I stop myself a little too late, realizing I’ve said too much.
Telling her he came onto me won’t make her feel any better. She takes an intimidating step toward me. “You wanna finish that sentence?”
“Not particularly,” I murmur.
“You think I’m not enough for my own boyfriend?”
“Definitely not.” I shake my head vehemently, not just because I don’t want her to beat me up, but because I hate to think she thinks that. “And I think if he makes you feel that way, maybe he’s not the one.”
She gives me another shove backward. “You need to stay out of my business and away from my boyfriend. If I catch you talking to him again, you’re dead.”
There’s literally no chance of that. I might say that if she didn’t keep pushing me, but she’s starting to piss me off. “Look, it’s not my fault your boyfriend started talking to me out of nowhere. I have no interest in him. Whatever your friend thought they saw, they were mistaken.”
Arpita smiles, and I can feel trouble brewing. Before I can say another word, she picks me up and hurls me into the pool.
Bodies move swiftly out of the way as I land gracelessly in the water. My arms shoot out, terror seizing me as I plummet beneath the surface, sucking water into my lungs before I can think to close my mouth.
I can’t swim. I can’t drown, either, so I claw desperately at the water, trying to doggy paddle like I did when I was a kid.
Calm down, calm down, calm down.
It’s a frantic chant in my mind as I get my feet under me at the bottom of the pool. I use them to launch myself upward, then I try to use momentum to get to the surface. I don’t know why it’s not working, if my movements are too choppy, if I’m too panicked.
All I know is there’s water in my lungs and I can’t breathe even though my body is begging me to. I can’t breathe. My lungs burn and I start to feel sick from the lack of oxygen.
I kick and move my arms, but they’re getting heavy. So is the water. Everything feels so heavy, and the panic gets more desperate as my body pleads with me for just one gulp of air. I’m going to die.
I read once that when your brain is cut off from its oxygen supply, you hallucinate. I guess that’s the only explanation for the dark angel I see piercing the water’s surface, shooting toward me like a bullet.
His big, beautiful black wings unfurl and I feel a sense of peace that he’s coming for me. I shouldn’t feel peace in the moment I lose control of my limbs because even though my thrashing wasn’t making much impact, I know if I don’t fight my way to the surface, I’ll drown.
The surface is too far to reach, and my body isn’t under my control anymore. My lungs are the last to give up. I can’t hold my breath anymore.
The impulse to breathe is too all-consuming. I need it. When I can’t hold my breath anymore, I suck in more water that feels like liquid lead as it fills my lungs.
I know I’m lost. I feel myself sinking, falling back toward the pool floor as consciousness dips in and out of focus. I almost hit the pool floor, but then my angel is there.
He grabs me and pulls me toward him, then his strong wings wrap around both of us and I’m not afraid anymore. I could cry, I’m so happy. She won’t feel afraid.
There’s peace in the last moments before you leave. It brings me more solace than I thought possible to know this is what he’ll feel when the clock runs out.
I was so afraid it would be all sadness and fear to be ripped from the Earth before you’re ready to go, but it’s not. I wish I could be there with him for all the rest of her moments, but I know he’ll join me soon, and nothing will ever part us again.
If I weren’t in a pool full of water, I think tears would be falling down my face. I curl close to my angel, feel the comfort of his powerful wings embracing me. I close my eyes as we fly out of the pool and above the house, as we soar up through the darkness toward the heavens.
I feel the stars around us, but I don’t look. I nuzzle my face into the neck of my angel and hold him tight, hoping he never lets me go.
Anirudh's POV:
The girl, I own, is near the bottom when I finally get to her.
She’s exhausted her body fighting to get back to the surface. She’s sinking, but I pull her up. She hasn’t been down here too long, so she hasn’t lost consciousness yet.
I’m prepared for her to panic again, to grab at me and try to pull me down with her. When someone’s drowning and clinging to life, it’s not unheard of for them to drag their rescuer down in their desperation to get back to the surface.
It’s animal instinct, a fight to survive. If pulling me down helps you get back up, you’ll pull me down 10 out of 10 times. Anyone who says otherwise is lying to themselves.
I’m not worried, though. I’m the strongest swimmer. If she starts fighting again, I’ll immobilize her and tow her back to the surface, but there’s not a shot in hell she’s drowning me to save herself.
She doesn’t try to pull me down or climb over me, though. As soon as I bring her in, she hugs me. I’m already caught off-guard, then she nuzzles closer, resting her head on my shoulder.
Before I break the surface, her limbs have fallen away from me and her body has gone limp. Her eyes are closed when I get her head above water, her long dark hair floating like squid ink in the water behind her body.
“Get the fuck over here and help me,” I bark at Saurabh. My orders trump everyone, so they hustle their asses over and help me Bondita out of the water so I can climb out myself.
Bondita lies motionless on the tile surrounding the pool. No shd can't die without my permission. Even her breathes are my slave. Shd fucking cannot die without seeking my permission.
I’m dripping water all over the fucking place, but I push what I can out of my hair so it doesn’t drip in her face when I lean over her, then I drop to my knees and see if she’s breathing.
She isn’t.
Fuck.
“Should we call someone?” Saurabh says, glancing at me uncertainty.
There’s an edge of nervousness within me, like it might be occurring to her she’s taken it too far. Not because the girl isn’t breathing, but because people are starting to question her. I don’t answer.
All my focus zeroes in on Bondita and the noise around me dies away. As a competitive swimmer, I know what to do in a situation like this.
I tilt her head back and lift her chin to open her airway. I listen one more time to make sure she really isn’t breathing, and when I confirm she’s not, I position my hands in the middle of her chest and do compressions.
After the first round, I pinch her nose, lower my mouth to hers, and breathe my air into her lungs. I sense the nervousness of the people gathered around increase when I do a few rounds and Bondita is still unconscious.
“Come on,” I murmur, pressing her chest, and then leaning down to press my mouth against hers again.
Relief hits hard when her body jerks and she starts coughing up pool water. I sit back on my legs and breathe a quiet sigh of relief.
That was fucking close. Even though it’s a hot night, Bondita shivers as she tries to regain her bearings. Glancing at the nearest of me, I tell Romsha, “Go get her a towel.”
Romsha’s gaze flits to Saurabh but doesn’t linger long enough to see whether or not he supports my order. She comes back a moment later with a fluffy turquoise beach towel and hands it to Bondita with a meek, “Here you go.”
Bondita looks at Romsha for a moment, then snatches the towel and mutters a thank you as she drapes it over her back and pulls the ends around her shoulders.
Finally, Bondita’s gaze flickers to me. She studies my face, a frown creasing her brow. “You’re not an angel.”
A smirk tugs at the corners of my lips. “No, I am not.” Her gaze flickers to the tattoo covering my right shoulder, a crow with spread wings. She looks down and breathes in, placing a hand on her chest.
Addressing the crowd, I say, “Someone call her an ambulance.”
“No,” she says quickly, shaking her head but not looking at me. “Thank you, but I’m okay now.”
“You still need medical attention. There was water in your lungs. You need to be looked at by a doctor. You could still die.”
“I won’t die,” she says almost dismissively.
“I have too much to do.”
“I don’t think being busy is enough to keep you alive.”
She shakes her head, pulling the towel off and trying to stand. Her legs go out from under her instantly. I’m right there, catching her around the waist so she doesn’t fall.
I pull her into my lap since her little ass doesn’t want to listen.
Looking directly at Saurabh, I say, “Call her an ambulance.”
“No,” she objects again, struggling to move off my lap. My cock stirs as she struggles to get away from me, but I ignore the heat kindling low in my gut and lock my arm around her even tighter.
Scowling, she turns her head and looks me dead in the eye. It feels intimate since she’s on my lap, but she ruins it by being mad as hell and looking like a drowned rat.
A cute drowned rat, but a drowned rat all the same. “You’re wasting your energy,” I tell her. “You’re going to the hospital.”
“I am not. I appreciate you saving me, but you’re not in charge here, and I am not going to the hospital.”
“You are on my property; you nearly drowned in my pool. You are going to the hospital so they can check you out, make sure your poor little family can’t sue me for your wrongful death, and then we can all get on with our lives.”
Her jaw drops open. “You… you’re just worried about me suing you?”
“I would have fallen in a trap of murder.,” I tell her simply. “I’m also of the opinion that dying out of sheer stubbornness is idiotic. Are you an idiot? I’d hate to think I ruined my shoes saving an idiot.” I smirked.
Fire ignites in her black eyes. I guess she’s feeling better. “Let go of me,” she says, clawing at my hands.
“Joke’s on you, Chanda, I like to be clawed at.” I told her.
Her wide eyes fill with open horror but her hands still. “What is wrong with you?” Since she’s not getting any help from me, her attention shifts to Mini, my whore.
“You want to do something about your boyfriend?” It’s cute that she thinks A
Mini holds my reins. Mini doesn’t like admitting she doesn’t, so I’m sure she’s relieved when I take the focus off her by telling the almost drowned girl,
“This isn’t that kind of relationship. What's your name anyways?” I tried to irritate her.
“You don’t know my name?”
“No.”
“I know yours.”
“Of course you do. I am The Anirudh Roy Chaudhary after all.”
“Fuck you,” she says, dismissing me with her gaze and turning on my lap to get her feet on the ground.
Seems to be stubborn, too. If I let her, she’ll wobble her ass to the car and get behind the wheel, and then if she isn’t as well as she wants to be, she’ll drive off the cliff and into the ocean.
I won’t be able to save her, then.
That would be idiotic, and it’s not happening on my watch. I’m not letting her leave unless it’s in the back of an ambulance.
Of course, since I already commanded it, an ambulance is on the way. I just have to keep her from leaving.
I stand, grabbing her hip to pull her close, then I drag her with me on the way to retrieve my shirt. “What are you doing?” she demands, looking down at my hand on her hip, her body close to mine.
“I’ve decided not to go to hospital.” She scowls up at me, then peels my hand off her hip.
I let go to grab my shirt, but I grab her wrist before she can get far. She tugs on it trying to get free, but her body has just been through a stressful ordeal.
Even in full health, I could easily overpower her, so it doesn’t net her the results she’s hoping for. “Mr. Roy, what are you doing?”
That name on her lips raises my hackles. I give her a sideways look as we walk. “My friends call me Anirudh.”
“We’re not friends.”
“Everyone calls me Anirudh.,” I amend since that’s more accurate.
“I don’t want to call you anything, I just want to go home. I never should have come to this party in the first place. Let me go,” she says more forcefully as she realizes I’m about to drag her into my house.
“Saurabh!” I dragged her inside and ordered him. “Making sure she doesn’t leave before the ambulance comes.”
How was the chapter? Please review.
I can't believe that I have wrote 5600 words chapter after a long time.
So how was their meeting?
What do you think about Anirudh? Why is he being so jolly and caring?
Is something cooking in his psycho and manipulative head?
Where will their meeting will take them to?
Also, anyone notice that in previous book, when Anirudh was dieing, he had thought her of an angel. Here, when she was dieing, she thought him of her angel!!!
Where is this story going?
Any idea of what's going to happen next?
Guess!
Thank you!!